Civil society organizations are ascribed an important role in the fight against right-wing extremism. They are addressed as places of democracy and social participation, where anti-human attitudes are counteracted. In recent years, however, civil society itself has increasingly become the target of right-wing interventions, which has led to the formation of new organizations and divisions in existing civil society organizations. This threatens to weaken the integrative power of civil society in the long term.

The aim of the project "Organized civil society and right-wing interventions" is to strengthen civil society, to increase its capacity to act against right-wing interventions and to find out what support civil society actors need - especially in social spaces with weak infrastructure. At the heart of the project is the question of how organized civil society can be strengthened in the face of anti-democratic challenges.

The project focuses on three topics: Firstly, the contexts of emergence of right-wing activities are broken down and the conditions of emergence of right-wing dynamics in organized civil society spaces are conceptualized. Secondly, it analyses, systematizes and evaluates the reactions of civil society to date. Finally, recommendations for action in terms of a resilient coping strategy are derived.

Methodologically, the project relies on a comparative mixed-method design that combines a historical approach with qualitative case studies and content analyses of communication behavior in social media. In order to do justice to the broad spectrum of civil society fields of action, the project selects cases from the eight organizational areas of work, religion, charity, volunteer fire department, shooting, nature conservation, culture and sport.

The project, in cooperation with the University of Kassel, is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the funding guideline "Current and historical dynamics of right-wing extremism and racism".